Houston-area Starbucks embrace holidays with Fruitcake Frappuccino

Starbucks is going all-out kitsch with its new limited-edition flavor.
Photo courtesy of Starbucks

Starbucks has a gimmicky new drink flavor available for a very limited time: It's a Fruitcake Frappuccino blended beverage, and it's available only through December 19.

The inspiration is holiday fruitcake, "with its colorful candied fruits, nuts, and spices." The drink is a hazelnut crème Frappuccino, to which Starbucks adds dried fruit and cinnamon, before then topping it with whipped cream, caramel dots, and a sprinkle of matcha.

Fruitcake seems like an odd inspiration, given the mixed reaction that fruitcake earns. But there are fruitcake fans out there. "It's definitely an interesting beverage. It's super tasty," said a barista at the Uptown Park Starbucks, where the drink is not advertised but you can ask for it.

The drink is an easy spin-off since it uses ingredients already in-house; the dried fruit is the same as what's sprinkled on top of the chain's breakfast oatmeal. But hazelnut crème Frappuccinos have no coffee, so if you're looking for a caffeine kick, you're out of luck.

Ratcheting up the kitsch level, Starbucks will be doing a cross-promotion with a holiday sweater theme. December 16 is National Ugly Sweater Day, so Starbucks Rewards members can get an ugly sweater knitted beverage cozy as a gift with the purchase of a Fruitcake Frappuccino.